Queen Friends

 

Queen Friends is a section where all chatters at #queenfanclub and #ausqueen can come here and learn more about one another via small bios and a photo. Queen Friends isn't just for people on the Queen chats. Anyone who comes here, please feel free to send me your bios and let the world know that your a proud Queen fan. You can include favourite Queen song, concert, album, favourite member and why and any memory pertaining to the band. If you'd like to be apart of this, please e-mail me with a bio and a photo at; innuendo@royal.zzn.com

Ranii - Melbourne, Australia:

Hi, my name is Rani, I come from Melbourne Australia. I'm 16 years old and I'm a huge (let me emphasis that word a little more..**HUGE**) Queen fan. I first started liking Queen when I was 11,  5 years ago in 1994, (which is a shame as it was too late to ever meet Freddie....my favourite member). In 1994 my brother walked up to the cash register in a HMV music store clutching $30 in one hand and a Metallica C.D. in the other, as he was handing over the money, out the corner of his eye, you better believe it, he caught a glimpse of Queen's Greatest Hits. Embraced by Freddie's good looking face starring back up at him, he flinged the Metallica C.D. aside and picked up the first ever Queen C.D. to enter our lives. I was instantly hooked by Freddie's outstanding voice, Rogers ability to belt the sh*t out of a drum, John's fantastic beats and Brians eye catching hair, what more could I want??? They made up any and all gaps in my music cravings, rock, heavy, dance, opera, you name it they had it. To this day, I still and always will love Queen, there wouldn't be many words to discribe what they mean to me, and I certainly can not think of any good enough. Picking a favourite song, would have to be one of the hardest things to achieve. There is not one song of Queen's that I could say I don't like. Freddie's voice brings out the best in every song. The only song I can think of to say as a favourite would have to be Bohemian Rhapsody, such a maste piece. If I was to rattle off a few more, others that come to mind include: My Fairy King, Mad the Swine, Hammer to Fall, and many others. Picking a favourite album however is a slightly easier task, but never the less to be thought about carefully. I think I would say my favourite album over all is Sheer Heart Attack, that being a hairs length above Queen and Jazz. I could go on forever, discussing my favourites, but all that's needed to be known about me, I'm a Queen fan.

 

Falc - Tweed Heads, Australia:

Hi there, my name is Andrew and I live in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia. I am of course a fan of the best ever band in the land and have been since 1993. My old man, who isn’t a fan of Queen, purchased ‘Queen Greatest Hits II’ after seeing an advertisement for the album on TV soon after it’s release in 1991. I immediately feel in love with the first 5 tracks of the album but was too lazy to try out the rest. In 1992, after seeing the final minutes of the televised version of ‘The Freddie Mercury Tribute’, I had the tune of ‘We are the Champions’ in my head and I just had to get a copy of it. Not knowing the name of the song or the artist at the time, I mentioned it to a friend that immediately recognized the tune and gave me a copy of ‘Queen Greatest Hits’. I was immediately addicted to every song on both albums and listened to them over and over. In 1993 a Television series of the movie ‘Highlander’ started screening. I found myself religiously watching it every week but not because of my interest in Middle Age conflict, but because of the music. Again I wasn’t sure of the artist, but due to Freddies distinctive voice, I put my money on Queen. After scanning the credits at the end of the program, and confirming it was Queen, I purchased the album ‘A kind of Magic’. It was at this point that I considered myself a fan. The music grew on me, and ever since, have found myself getting my hands on anything that would enable me to listen to the distinctive and inspirational sound of Queen.

Cossette - Ontario, Canada:

My brother bought the double CD set of "The Very Best of Queen". I can remember long hours of listening to that CD in the basement of my home, singing along with my brother and sister while we were playing Super Nintendo. =) This year (1999), I borrowed his CDs again and listened to them in a different way. I had a year of voice training behind me and I now realized how truly amazing Freddie Mercury was! For my birthday I received the video "Champions of the World, the disc "A Night At The Opera" and a gift certificate that I used to buy "Queen Rocks". Now I am addicted and obsessed, and I am striving to learn more about this amazing band! My favourite album is "Queen Rocks", and my favourite songs are "Seven Seas of Rhye", "I Can't Live With You", "I Want to Break Free", "Seaside Rendezvous", "It's A Kind of Magic", "Headlong", "Breakthu" and many more!

Killer Queen - Leicester, England:

"Although I had heard Queen's music for awhile, I didn't become a fan until around 1979. That's when I first heard the Live Killers album and knew I just had to know more! Queen have been 'with me' since then. Although it is almost impossible to choose a favourite album, I really like A Night at the Opera, and one of the best song's has to be I'm Going Slightly Mad...probably because I am!!..."

White Queen - Sydney, Australia:

Hi, I think I'm the oldest person alive who likes Queen after reading the stories ahead of me. My name is Kim, I'm from Australia, and I have a webpage at http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/dreadlock/430/page1.htm which I hope embodies my feelings about the character and charm of the band known as Queen...*shameless plug but what the hell ;-)* So...where do I begin? I remember the first day I heard any Queen song very well actually...amazing that Altzheimers hasn't set in yet although I do own a few crocheted rugs....I was playing snooker in the garage of my parents home with my brother. I believe it was 1976. As usual we had the radio playing and were singing along to Leo Sayer or David Essex I would say, when suddenly we both stood stock still and just stared open mouthed at the little portable AM radio as the first sounds of Bohemian Rhapsody came out of it's puny little speakers. By the end of the song we had virtually fallen in a heap on the garage floor, which was not very pleasant as the kitty litter tray did need cleaning out, and we were gawking at each other with total amazement on our faces. We had NEVER heard anything like that before! What to do? What to do? Only one thing to do....ring the radio station and beg them to play it again....we did, they did, then we did again and they did again.....and then I raced out to the local *vinyl* record store (yes, told you I was old) and ordered A Night At The Opera. It was hell waiting for that damn album to arrive but when it did it hooked me for life. Very soon afterwards Queen graced our shores with their royal presence and I got back row seats at the Hordern Pavillion. For any Aussies out there you'll know just what the atmosphere at the Hordern was....amazing. Only a couple of security guards got in my way as I dived towards the stage when Roger strolled on......ahhhhh....the good old days. Well...since then....I've had a Queen song beside me for every event in my life really. That's the beauty of their music, there is always a song to suit an occasion . The fads in my life have come and gone...David Cassidy, the Monkees, Marilyn Manson...but through out it all...Queen have stayed and never faded one bit. Pleased to meet you all. Kim

Bijou - Melbourne, Australia:

Hi, I'm Elle Gray and I'm supposed to tell you my beautiful story about becoming, getting out of and becoming a Queen fan again. I think it all started when my brother got into it about 1993 (I was 8 then) and I was pretty inspired by it all. I really loved Freddie's voice but I wasn't at all attracted to him pshycally and I had a thing for John. I still have a clay face I made in art of Freddie Mercury I was so pshyced. I completly fell in love with Greatest Hits II, I memorized all the words and I spent hours listening to it. I cried when my brother refused to give me a tape of it to listen to! I don't know what happened then. We all got out of it and forgot about it. He had a short attention span and didn't like things for very long, so I just had to live with Ace of Base for a while. Then at the end of 1997 I put on Greatest Hits and lied on my brothers bed. I sorta meditated I guess, I was captured again. In that session of listening to it, his door opened and shut by itself and my friends and I think it was Freddie coming in, I think so too. Maybe it was a sign I was getting into some good music. That summer Tommy got back into Queen because he had started copying Teo Torriatte to all his girlfriends and got rave reviews. I started to review the music I was listening to. I adopted all of his CDs and books and started to play Bohemian Rhapsody all the time on the piano. I was singing songs constantly, raving about the change in me to my friends and opening my eyes to a new meaningful kind of music. Ever since then I've been hooked. My family and friends think i've gone crazy on it, but I can vouch for that. It's probably the most stable thing in my life and I won't have the dealing of "O Freddie would never reject me, would he" stigma into it. I bet there's some kind of weird psychology to it but I'm totally in love with it! I'd have to say my favourite songs are The Prophet Song, White Man and My Fairy King. I have many favourite concerts, mostly in the 70's, they are Hyde Park 1976, Hammersmith Odeon 1975, Rainbow 1974, Marquee 1972 and Earls Court 1977. My favourite albums are Queen I, Queen II and News of the World. I love Get Down Make Love! So there you have it! Elle

LarryLurex - Sweden:

Hello everybody My name is Jorma Niemi, on the #queenfanclub chat I'm known as LarryLurex. The day I was born, Queen had a very good concert in Washington DC, the last concert for a while on that tour due to Freddie's throat problems. (check the As it Began for details) The only thing I do remember about Queen from my childhood was hearing Radio Ga Ga several times on the radio, and seeing pictures of Freddie on the Live Aid stage. The first song that REALLY got to me was "Who wants to Live Forever", as I heard it on the "Highlander" movie. My friend had the "A Kind of Magic" album, so he recorded the song for me. That was around 1990. When Freddie died, i really just remember hearing about it on the radio and things, but still I didn't think so much about it. Not until "Wayne's World" came around, and I heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" i got cought. I though "What IS this" and I listened to it over and over again, I was amazed. Most amazing was that the song was about as old as me, and I hadn't heard it until then. Strange now isn't it? Anyway, I started to listen to the Greatest Hits collections, and also the "AKOM" album, very good indeed. I got more and more interested, but the first thing I bought didn't come until 1994: Greatest Flix II, and I was amazed. The videos were great, and I though "Wow". The first album I bought was "The Miracle" I was more than happy with it, and soon I started to buy more and more of them. The first solo album I bought was RT's "Happiness?" album, which I think is a great one. I also have seen Brian live on the AW tour, great concert in Stockholm. What more is there to write, the videos I've seen are great, I want to see more and more. Most concerts, Queen live from the 70's are no on my "most wanted" list. I just wish they can make official releses of those films. That's something they REALLY could cash in on. Well, what more is there to say, I am a Queen fan, and damn proud of it :-) Thanks for taking your time reading this, take care and stay safe. Jorma Niemi

LoveToken - Montana, USA:

Well let's see, Eric Hansen, aka LoveToken here. How'd I get into Queen. That's simple. I even know the day. April 20th 1992. The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. I couldn't believe the music I was hearing. "Who is this guy they are all singing for?" I said to myself. The next day I got Classic Queen and the rest is history. Certainly my best Queen related experience was seeing Brian play Chicago. He blew every other band away. He slaughtered them. Sadly I didn't get to meet him, but someday I will. My favorite song jumps between White Queen, Who Wants to Live Forever, White Man, and Was it All Worth it. Excellent excellent tracks. I suppose as far as solo material Roger is my favorite, but the band in general.... John I suppose. He seems a lot like me in that he's quiet and good. Staying with the same girl (his "Best Friend") for so long is very impressive. Go John! I love Queen. They are simply incredible. A foundation for so many bands they will always be around. I also love Styx, U2, Aerosmith, Grand Funk Railroad, and Rush.

Deacy - The Netherlands:

Hi, my name is Pepijn, but because that name is quite difficult, and a lot of people already know me by that name, I call myself Deaky. :-) As you all know, Deaky is the amplifier of John Deacon. I'm not pretending to be his amp, I just thought it was a nice name.... I really love everything of Queen, from QueenI to Made in Heaven. Therefore, I have a lot of favourite songs, among them Innuendo, The Millionaire's Waltz, Radio GaGa, Cool Cat, March of the Black Queen and on and on and on... My favourite member is Roger Taylor, because of his good looks (I'm considering turning gay if I'd ever meet him ;), his political views and his huge great solo efforts.... I totally adore the Cross's Blue Rock and Roger's Electric Fire. Never been to a Roger gig though, and I sincerely hope that he will go and have a world tour sometime!

Spunky - Mackay, Australia:

I first discovered Queen in 1995 when I was 14 years old. I was at my Aunt's house searching for a music video in her collection to watch within the confines of her 'surround sound' living room. It was then that I found 'Queen - Greatest Flix'. I looked on the back cover and recognised some of the songs and so decided to put it in the VCR. Maybe it was the surround sound, I don't know, but the songs I heard on that video had me feeling things I'd never felt before. From that day, I could not think of anything but Queen. Soon after, I bought my first CD Player and the first CD I bought was 'A Night at the Opera'; the second, 'Queen: Greatest Hits II'. I then joined the Fan Club and have never looked back since. Throughout high school I think I was looked on as a tad strange, because I wasn't into the mainstream 'teenage' music scene. But within the four walls of my bedroom, surrounded by posters and the music of the band I love, I felt totally at home with myself and the music I had chosen (or the music that had chosen me) to listen to. I gathered a few pen-pals through the Fan Club Magazine and now look forward to meeting new Queen friends over the internet as well. Look forward to meeting and talking with you all!

Apollyon Q - The Netherlands

Hi... When I was born, in 1973, my parents called me Richard Harold. John's second name, and Brian's second name :-) It all started when my parents got on of the first 'Greatest hits' album (they knew someone at EMI). Being the technical boy, I tried out the recordplayer (at age 8 *LOL*). After I listened to a few records I tried the 'Greatest hits' album. After that I just couldn't stop listening to it again and again. I haven't really got a favorite song, because it hugely depends on the mood I'm in... however, no matter what mood I'm in I always LOVE to listen to "Queen II" and "A night at the opera". I use the nick Apollyon Q all over the net. Apollyon roughly means "Angel of the abyss", which I picked up from the bible (even though I'm not religious at all, big bang theory is one of my favorites :). I added the Q part to get a unique internet nick. I used the Q for two reasons. The first one, because I'm a HUGE Queen-fan, the second reason... there has to be something left to guess at... :) Richard

TigerBabe - Swansea, Wales:

 

Hi, my real name is Kristina, and im a HUGE fan of Queen and Roger Taylor's Tigerpants*wink*! im 15, and i've loved Queen for aslong as i can remember, i've never been to a concert, although the Best i've seen has to be a toss up between Hyde Park, and the Freddie Tribute. The place I live is very VERY boring and so i just sit in my room and listen to my Queen CD's. My Favourite Member of the Band is Roger Taylor, cos i think he is THE best looking man on the planet, even if he is 35 years older than me! my favourite song's are I Want To Break Free, The Show Must Go On, Im Going Slightly Mad, The Seven Sea's Of Rhye, and i could go on and write down every Song made by Queen, but im not gonna waste your time reading every song Queen have ever done! I love all of Queen's stuff, it's unique, and very, well, it's Queen, what more can i say! i've also been going through a phase of pretending, along with another girl, who shall remain nameless, that im married to Roger and that she's married to John, it's kinda fun sseeing all the people who acctually belive us! Anyway, gonugh of my bable! Thanx for reading, often in the #queenfanclub chat room expecialy on weekends, thanx, i'd just like to mention, a couple of my friends from #queenfanclub chat they are: Billy, Johnnie, Blossom, KillerQ, Falc, Slightly! SarahL, and many many more! If i've missed anyone else out, dont worry, you know who you are! And I'd just like to say, 'In Rog i lust AMEN!'

Saturn - Holland:

Saturn is the name I got a time ago, when I liked to roam around in the anonymousity of the internet. Not that I have too much to hide, but just because I felt saver with not everyone knowing my details right away. I started chatting in a Queen chat and met so many lovely people through there. It was at a moment that I can say that my fanship for Queen revived, after some years that I was busy with other things. I saw Queen alive for the first time in 1974 and it was the first concert that I went to. I have seen dozens of concerts, never so special as what Queen did. The time changed the way Queen performed, but they were always high in technic and in performance. Every album gave a new excitement, and my parents must've got mad about me. One of the funny stories is that I never saw my mom so angry as when I went to the Queen concerts with black nail polish. That and the fact that I had that immense huge poster of Freddie, with his long hair, make up.. Mmmm.. Reminding that makes me really longing back to the time that Freddie was around. He was beautiful. Later the image changed, and I never forgot how they started oh so well. Through the years Queen was always in my life. They were there when I had good times and bad times. Their music accompanies me as my best friend and I cannot imagine a day without their music. I got married and than my fanship lowered down a bit. The family, the kids, they took enough attention and made my life more in balance. I never missed a Dutch concert (we're from Holland) but my wife and the kids (our boy Thijs is born in 1989, our daughter Anne is born in 1987) never were liking Queen. Now our Anne can listen to it and recognize it, I think she is the most far in knowing about Queen. Well, that's basically how I can introduce myself. When I have a chance I am in a chat, sharing and talking about Queen. Or I am writing, corresponding, doing some poetry or work with my computer. Computers are my profession and my largest hobby. Well, this is my story, I hope you enjoy it a bit.

Lojik - Townsville, North Queensland:

I have a very clear memory of when I became a Queen fan. It was the end of 1981, I was 12, and Greatest Hits was released. The TV advertising was incessant, and I just HAD to have it for Christmas! Sure enough, on Christmas morning there was the LP of Queens Greatest Hits under the tree with my name on it. At first I just listened to a couple of tracks (Another One Bites The Dust, Flash), but soon I was listening to the whole thing over and over and over...... After that, I started to collect their albums. The next one was Queens masterwork, A Night at the Opera, followed by The Game, and Jazz. Eventually, all the albums were re-released and I was able to complete my collection. Then came 1984, and The Works. I was hooked all over again. Our family moved to Sydney, much to my disgust, but it turned out to be for the best! In 1985, Queen toured Australia, and I was one of the lucky ones to see them at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in April of that year. What a show! The Works Tour was HUGE!! The lights, the crowd, THE MUSIC! I still have my concert program and ticket stubs, and I will never part with them. After that, my family moved to Perth where I met some more fans. Then, in 1987, I came back to Townsville. In 1988, I bought my first CD player, and the album collecting process began all over again with The Miracle. Then came marriage, kids, mortgage.... Now, I am happily separated from my wife, and living with Sharon (aka Fatass), who I am glad to say has become a Queen fan also. "Our" song is 'Bijou', as we were destined... I still have that original album of Greatest Hits, which I will never sell. It is special to me, mainly because the tracklist is different to the CD. The music is timeless, the band will go down in history as rock pioneers, and the fans will continue to be. The Show Must Go On. Thanks for reading. Best Wishes, Liam

Fishy - Melbourne, Australia:

Hi, my name is Tim, and I live in Melbourne Australia. My Queen story goes a little like this. Back in 1984 when I was 15, my sister would blast several tracks on the stereo from Greatest Hits album while mum and dad were out. When she had finished I would sneak into the lounge room, and start playing the album in its entirety. It wasn't long before I bought "The Works", and from that moment became a diehard fan, slowly increasing my Queen back catalogue as time went on. In 1985 when Queen toured Australia, I went along and was astounded at how Fantastic they were live. That was my first concert, and still the one I remember the most. I joined the fan club in '87. No matter what my mood, or current musical taste might be, Queen have the song and album to fit it. I love the fact that they moved ahead with their music, always staying fresh and ahead of the crowd, with a standard few could match. Their musicianship and songwriting abilities are unsurpassed. I have too many songs that could be classed as favourites to name them here, but definitely a standout would be Dragon Attack. As to my favourite albums, well in no particular order; A Day At The Races, News Of The World, The Game, Made In Heaven. Queen have been my alltime favourite group for over 15 years, and now with the Internet expanding my global Queen fanaticism, they will continue to be Number One for many years to come. I LOVE QUEEN!

Stan - New York:

Hi everybody! My name is Stan. I am 17 years old and live in New York, USA. I guess I am writing to tell you my Queen experience. It was I think 1988-89 when I heard a crappy recording of Headlong and Show Must Go On on my brother's tape. At first I just continued with the tape, but then I caught myself rewinding specially to hear those two songs. I started to wonder who is that? I asked my brother, he didnt know , turned out it wasn't his tape. So I started to run around music stores asking people. I found out it was Queen. so I started to listen to it more and more. About two years later I started to play guitar. I had no one to teach me, forget about reading music, so there I was, as I remember myself, sitting at night and trying to get the right pitch of Sleeping on the sidewalk, by trying every fret and note. After two month I got the whole song right to the last note, I couldn't believe it was possible. Than I learned to read tablature and bought every book possible of queen's tablature. After 5 years of listening and playing I realized the true power of Brain May's guitar work and than I realized that he is my favorite guitarist. Sure there are guys like Jimmy Page and Van Halen but I think Brian May added a little something more to his playing. It is rather hard to get the exact Brian's playing but I tried...I actually cried when Freddie Mercury died, but hey all the greatest people go away some day... Than I got into Metallica and Slayer and stuff like that, but you can always hear the Queen's influence in some songs. when the latest Metallica album came out and I heard their version of stone Cold Crazy I knew that there would be no Metallica without Queen. Freddie Mercury should be the man of the 20th century. QUEEN IS BAND OF 20TH CENTURY, THAT IS MOST DEFINETLY! My favorite album is A Night at the Opera and favorite song of course is Bohemian Rhapsody, what else? I just want to say it gives me a graet plesure that there are people out there that love queen as much as I do, god save you all!!!!

Hot Space - Melbourne, Australia:

G’day! My name is Barbara and I reside just outside Melbourne, Australia. I’ve been Down Under since 1992, at which time I emigrated from QUEENland (UK). I was born in 1967 just outside London and have been an ardent Queen fan since 1981. There is a bit of history previous to that though which I will share with you. Around about 1975/1976’ish my brother brought me home a couple of badges and some black and white photo’s of who I thought were some pretty ugly, long-haired men!!! I was into BrotherHood of Man then…say no more!!! I kept the badges (still have them) and threw away the photo’s. Well I bet you can guess whom they were of! (My brother was friends with one of Queen’s roadies at the time!!!!) Arghhhh!!! Anyway, Christmas 1981 my brother bought me Greatest Hits and I was hooked, although it wasn’t until the release of Highlander (Christopher Lambert has such beautiful eyes!!!) and then the Magic Tour that I fuelled the fire and started attending everything Queen. I went to see them at Knebworth on August 9th 1986…as you know their last concert together. It was FANTASTIC! I joined the fan club soon after and then started going to the conventions. In 1990 three friends and myself were the first group entry to win the fancy dress competition. We went as Queen in Radio Ga Ga (I was Roger) and each won a photo signed by Queen. I also went to the Christmas Parties in 1988 and 1989 where I met some wonderful friends, and to the trips to Holland for the Dutch conventions where I made some more friends with the same extremely good taste in music! I also have a story to tell about giving a banana to Roger (along with three other girl friends) back stage after a Cross concert in Germany. If you come to the chat room when I’m there I will elaborate! I know it is very sad to say but Freddie’s untimely death made things more bearable after I got over the initial shock. I had been trying to migrate to Australia for 4 years (for a man!) and knew I would be so upset at leaving Queen and all my Queen associations behind me. Then our dear Freddie died the year before I left and I just made the Tribute concert at Wembley before I had to leave England behind. I haven’t lost touch with anyone I’ve met through Queen over the years and I’ve made some new friends here. The chat rooms are a great way for me to freely chat with people I know love the same music as me. I have since converted my mum and my husband to Queen and am now concentrating on developing my two-year-old daughter’s musical tastes. She loves to sing “We Will Wock You!" Before I go….Fave albums are ANATO, The Works, A Kind Of Magic and Innuendo. Fave Queen song is Don’t Stop Me Now. My favourite video clips are Princes of the Universe, The Miracle and One Vision. What more can I say…I ADORE Queen. Look forward to many more chats and maybe even some meetings! Take care Queenies!